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Daniel Justin Smith was there on the ground floor for Big Daddy Love, the northwest North Carolina band of bluegrass/jam/rock fusionists who won FloydFest’s Under the Radar contest a couple of years back. The band has been a FloydFest favorite ever since, and plays often at Martin’s Downtown in Roanoke.

But in April, Smith decided that with two young boys at home, he needed to spend more time with his family, and Big Daddy Love had become a road-dogging machine. So he left the band in good shape — BDL, with new members, is doing just as well as it had before — and started a solo career that includes new, original music and a songwriters showcase/workshop called Songcraft Live. His guest for Thursday night’s show will be his friend Jim Lauderdale. And on Saturday, they both head for Roanoke to play a gig at Kirk Avenue Music Hall.

We talk about what Smith has been up to lately and what’s to come, and we stream Smith’s song, “Chilly Wind.”